Sunday, July 02, 2006

Reiss descendants gathered in Sheboygan this weekend for a reunion. Family members are so devoted to genealogy that they have a numbering system even for their t-shirts. I'm not sure if they'll be required to wear these all the time or just at reunions.

Like the other attendees, [Patrick] McComis and [Eddie] Krawitt wore coded shirts, with colors to identify which of Clemens Reiss' eight child-bearing children they descended from and a numerical code to trace their lineage in shorthand. McComis wore a "10-4-3" on his left sleeve, making him the third child of the fourth child of Clemens and Anna Reiss' 10th child.

But while the carefully-planned shirts were genealogy to some, they were teams to others.

"I like soccer," said William McComis, 5, also known as 10.4.2.1a (the letter distinguishes him from his twin sister). "I played against all kinds of colors." [Link]